New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): A prominent carpet businessman from Srinagar has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ludhiana branch, for allegedly claiming incentive of Rs 30 crore for the export of carpets worth Rs 190 crore.

The businessman allegedly cheated the government by exporting carpets of inferior quality, showing them as silk carpets.

The accused businessman has been identified as Irfan Rashid. The DRI teams were given instructions to look into the matter by Nitin Saini, Afditional Director General of DRI.

The carpets were of inferior quality, while the businessman had claimed that they were made using silk and had demanded incentives.

On silk materials, the government pays high incentives whereas on other materials, less incentives are paid.

The DRI officials have produced Rashid before a concerned court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

Sources have suggested that many Srinagar-based firms export carpets and the DRI teams will look into their claims and the materials supplied by them. If found guilty, action will be taken against them.

The accused, who reportedly ran four firms, exported carpets to Dubai since 2018.